


When There's No One But Us

by mansikka



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Domestic, Established Relationship, Fluff, Home, M/M, POV Magnus Bane, Responsibility, Sweet Alec Lightwood, Vacation, Warlock Magnus Bane, Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 19:24:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11743569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mansikka/pseuds/mansikka
Summary: Some snapshots of 'domestic' times together for Magnus and Alec, in which Alec occasionally surprises Magnus, and Magnus can't always believe his luck.





	1. Preparing for an awkward conversation

**Author's Note:**

> Hello :) if there's anything resembling a plot here, it's going on in the background; I just wanted to see them together, existing outside of the Shadowhunter/Downworlder bubble. It's set somewhere arbitrarily in the future when, I'd like to think, things have settled down for everyone :) also, I have no idea about warlock politics, so this is just my own imagining of a situation :) x

The Omamori dug into the grip of his palm, having become such a constant there against his skin that Magnus no longer felt reassured without it. Even in his pocket sometimes it felt just that little too far from his reach, but then again, so did Alec at times. In the next room, at the Institute, wherever he was on his latest mission; wherever he was where Magnus was not, typically felt too far away.  

Magnus smiled to himself at the thought, imagined the teasing he’d receive from Catarina or Ragnor for voicing such a thing out loud, and allowed his eyes to drift closed. Not that Alec wasn’t waiting for him there too, he groaned, forcing them open again with a deliberate sigh, and giving the Omamori one final glance over before shoving it deep into his pocket, reaching into his other to drag out his cellphone with a huff of reluctance.

Alec. The name stared back at him from the screen, and the caress of his thumb over the letters there felt both a comfort and a stalling tactic. Whatever he said, however he worded this, it was going to be difficult. Perhaps cause more problems than either of them knew how to face, and despite the solidity that their relationship had grown into, there was still so much about each other that either didn’t know, that could prove catalyst for who knew what.

In his head Magnus pleaded with Alec to hear him out, to understand, and if he couldn’t do that, then to at least listen. This wasn’t something done by any kind of choice, nor something that he wanted to do, but it was a part of his world. A world that Alec might not be able to imagine given his relative youth and own way of life, and one to be honest that, now that Magnus thought about it, perhaps he should have spent a little more time revealing to Alec. Instead of hiding from some of the burdens that came with being a warlock.  

But, he decided, sliding the phone back into his pocket, however Alec was going to take this, it needed to be a face to face conversation. In truth, Magnus sighed to himself as he opened up a portal to take him to the Institute, that he’d considered even for a moment doing it over the phone, was a clear indication of just how mixed up he was about the entire thing. He took a breath telling himself it was to fill his lungs, not to give him courage, and stepped through the purple swirl, pleading himself calm.

Magnus’ appearance, sudden or otherwise in the Institute, had become something no one really paid that much attention to anymore. So second-nature, that he received several nods of acknowledgement, including a pinched, thin smile from Raj in passing, before he even found himself standing outside Alec’s office door.  

It still made him smile to think of just how excited Alec had been when he’d first told him about becoming Head of the Institute. As with so many moments between them in the beginning, it had been a quick, hurried celebration before he had to go back and deal with some of his new-found duties. But now that things had evened out in their worlds both separate and combined, they had found, and made, more time for one another. There was rarely a night that passed when they had to sleep alone, and in fact, if Magnus thought about it, he truly couldn’t remember the last time when at least part of his nightly sleep hadn’t been with Alec by his side.

Chiding himself for stalling by losing himself in a memory, Magnus peered around Alec’s always-open door, and raised his hand to knock. The sound of his knuckles striking the wood rang out far louder than he’d intended, and Alec startled at his desk, whipping round to face the door. The slight scowl for being interrupted morphed immediately into a smile Magnus decided was delighted, and Alec was up and across the room to drag him in to be kissed before he could even get across the threshold.  

Gone was the Alec who hesitated, who even fleetingly hesitated over what he was doing or whether what he wanted would even be accepted, and had been replaced with this; a beautiful, confident, affectionate man who loved him openly, without reservation, who had found peace in himself and along with that the balance he needed for all the things important to him in his world. Magnus hoped that would be enough to get him through the conversation they were about to have.

“Everything okay?” Alec asked, and the tone told Magnus he was on to him already. No matter the brightness of his smile, the squeeze of his hand around Alec’s arm, the look of intent he tried to give him, it rarely took Alec more than a couple of seconds to know that something was wrong.

“It is,” Magnus said anyway, and losing that courage he’d felt, brought his hands up to cup Alec’s face, pulling him in for a longer kiss that left them both swaying, leaning in to one another in that way they did that seemed to stop time.

“Okay. You gonna tell me what it is, or what?” Alec said, ducking the fraction needed to look him directly in the eye. But how was he supposed to answer, when Alec was smiling like he was, Magnus asked himself, letting his eyes linger, and his mind wander, and his responsibilities to be pushed further to the back of his mind.

“Alexander. Is it so hard to believe I just wanted to see you?”

“Magnus,” Alec said, his tone twisting and turning in amusement, his hands spreading wider around his hips and pulling him closer still, “c’mon,”

Magnus stared back, gripping that little bit tighter himself, pleading once again for Alec to understand him, and forced himself to take a breath.

“I have to leave,”

* * *

“Leave,” Alec repeated, his eyes narrowing just a fraction in suspicion, a tiny shake of his head that said he didn’t get the meaning of his words.

“Yes,” Magnus replied, drawing a hand away from Alec’s waist to press firmly against his chest, “there is a meeting. A… council, if you will, that is called once every quarter century, that I… have no choice but to attend,”

“A warlock council?” Alec asked, double checking, and there was a flicker of professionalism that hinted around the corner of his eyes as he spoke. “Or is this a Downworld thing I need to know about?”

“No,” Magnus replied with a slight smile of reassurance, “just warlocks. Nothing you need be concerned about at all,”

“It’s important?”  

“Yes,” Magnus agreed, thinking of the nightmare he would face if he wasn’t to attend, “there are penalties, and punishments, for warlocks who do not have good reason for not attending. You can imagine there are few excuses we can give for… not having the time,”

“I guess,” Alec nodded, seeming unconcerned, and the ease with which he’d accepted Magnus’ statement felt like a clasp around his throat, “so where is it?”

“The location varies each time,” Magnus replied, pulling away so he could steel himself for the words he was yet to find, “this time it is, actually, not so very far from where I was born,”

“So you’re going home?” Alec asked, and if that didn’t hit Magnus right in the stomach; firstly for the smile on his face that said Alec was happy for him, and second that he could think that anywhere but where he was himself, was home.

“Not exactly. It has been quite some time since I considered anywhere but here—”

“I meant,” Alec amended immediately, reaching out and squeezing his shoulder, “just… that’s all I meant. I thought maybe… I don’t know. Maybe you’d wanna… go see the places you knew back then while you’re there, or—”

“No—”

“No,” Alec agreed quickly, his eyes flaring wide with guilt, and before Magnus could say another word Alec was pulling him back in and all but cradling him to his chest, “no, I… I’m sorry, I guess you’d… I guess you don’t have too many happy memories of back there,”

“I have happier ones here,” Magnus admitted, wrapping his arms around Alec’s waist and letting himself be swayed.

“So. When are you going? We got time for dinner first? I can finish up here for now if you’re free,” Alec asked, and the ease with which he did had Magnus smiling all over again. In the beginning of their relationship, it had taken Alec an age to admit to wanting anything, but with time and a lot of persuasion, Magnus had managed to convince Alec that he truly could have anything he wanted. Apparently he had finally taken it to heart that all he had to do was ask.

“Alec,” Magnus tried to begin, tried to rein in the urge to abandon the meeting and wrap himself around Alec for a little longer, no matter the consequences, hating the idea that he was about to wipe the smile from his face, “we can have dinner wherever you want. But there is… there is something we need to talk about,”

“But you just said—”

“I’m leaving, Alec,” Magnus blurted out, squeezing his hands around Alec’s upper arms, hoping to convey a sense of urgency.

“Yeah, I get that, but—”

“This meeting. These meetings, they can go on for… quite some time,” Magnus managed to get out, though still his words were lacking in the depth of what he needed to say.

“So... we’re talking hours? Days? Weeks?” Alec asked, still looking as though he was trying to work him out. Magnus stared back at him, knowing no answer would really prepare Alec for what he was going to tell him.

“I don’t truly know,”

“There’s no time limit on these things?” Alec smiled, curious, though still with such a look of open trust on his face that Magnus felt his stomach drop. Magnus had to look away from it, so spun himself out of Alec’s arms again and began to pace in front of his desk.

“The last one was relatively short,” he began to tell him, recalling rituals and recitals and discussions that had seen winters and springs brought down upon the small village they were gathered in, when those discussions had got out of hand.

“And how long was that?”

“Approximately four months,” Magnus said, breathing the words out as he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the look on Alec’s face.

“Four months?” Alec repeated, incredulity finally kicking in to his voice.

“Yes,” Magnus smiled, “it was relatively… straightforward. There have been meetings that have gone on for… well. For literal years. In fact, my second attendance was the second longest that we have on record for these meetings. It is why not all of the warlocks are called to the meetings at the same time; there needs to be some presence left behind in case there is work to be done,”

“And… how long was that?”

“Almost… three years,” Magnus replied, wincing at Alec’s snort of laughter.

“Three years? C’mon, Magnus,” he laughed, “how much can anyone have to discuss that’s gonna take three whole years? How’s… how’s the stuff you’re talking about not gonna be out of date—irrelevant, by the time you’ve finished talking about ‘em?”

“There are… numerous issues to discuss. Treaties, agreements, disagreements. Abuses of magic, what classes as an abuse. Protocols put in place to protect the mundanes, and so on; it is… a complex process,”

“So,” Alec said, coming to stand in front of him, and understanding finally beginning to register on his face. And Magnus hated seeing it, watching the general happiness he was so used to seeing there being drained away because of himself, “you’re telling me, you could be away… any kind of time. Like… literally days… or years?”

“Yes,” Magnus said, closing his eyes once more, sure he could feel a simmering of anger beginning to drift out from Alec.

“How long’ve you known you needed to go?” Alec asked, with an edge to his voice that was an echo of the former snappy, permanently annoyed Alec he’d first met.

“Actually,” Magnus said, opening his eyes again, because he had no guilt to feel about that at least, “I found out today. This afternoon; approximately ten minutes before I portaled here,”

“There’s… is it always so last minute? Don’t they… they don’t think the High Warlock of Brooklyn, or… High Warlocks of wherever, are gonna… are gonna need to… I don’t know, make arrangements for when they’re gone?”

“Alec,” Magnus smiled, “these meetings… we are warlocks. There is no reason for us not to be able to simply… portal home when we need to,”

“Then… why are you looking so worried about how I’m gonna react?” Alec countered, raising an eyebrow and so very obviously reading Magnus’ mind.

“It’s just… this is a part of my world, my existence that… that I’ve never truly discussed with you. And I really should have; when I say I will be gone, it will mean very little contact. My focus for… however long this will take, will need to be there. I must… oversee whatever is happening here from afar, and only come back if there is some dire emergency that I cannot avoid,”

“I… can’t see you?” Alec said, his voice softer, the exact tone of wounded Magnus had been dreading since receiving the message about the meeting, and it cut him just as deep as he’d been fearing.

“It will be… difficult,”

“How difficult’s difficult?”

“It means that… well, for example,” Magnus said, darting a quick look at him then turning away again, “that the use of things like… mundane technology, is frowned upon. Forbidden, even,”

“So I can’t… we can’t even call?” Alec asked, that wounded tone morphing into something a little more horrified.  

“Not easily, no,”

“Then… fire messages?” Alec suggested, though the frown on his face said that was nowhere near enough, and it wasn’t. The very thought of being away from Alec for an extended period felt like torture already.  

“I suppose we at least have that option,”

“So you’re going somewhere… in the middle of nowhere, we can’t see each other, and we don’t know for how long… and there’s… there’s no way round this?” Alec summarized, his tone becoming clipped, and though Magnus didn’t want to hear it, also perhaps a touch accusatory.

“Alexander, I am… there is truly nothing I can do about this,” Magnus sighed, stepping closer and trying to plead with him, “if I can find a way to portal back—”

“Magnus,” Alec said, sharper this time, and crowding up against him, “there’s gotta be a way round this. You can’t just… drop this on me like this and… expect me to be okay with it,”

“I don’t expect you to be okay with it,” Magnus denied, adamantly staring back at him, “I am not okay with it myself. But I must—”

“Can I visit you?” Alec interrupted, narrowing his eyes a little.

“I… you could,” Magnus stumbled out, surprised, because that was the last thing he’d expected Alec to say, “I mean. I wouldn’t be in meetings the entire time. It’s just that we are expected to be on hand, should anything arise. Should anything get... well, out of hand,”

“Where’d you stay for this thing? You sleep somewhere, or—”

“We conjure accommodation for the duration of the meeting to our own liking,” Magnus smiled, wondering what visions Alec must be picturing for him to even feel the need to ask.

“And is it… is it shared?”

“Shared?”

“With the other warlocks,” Alec emphasized, with clearly a lot of thoughts going on behind his eyes that Magnus was desperate to be privy to.

“That is entirely personal choice,”

“So. If you wanted to share with someone,” Alec persisted, and Magnus’ heart gave a little jolt for it.

“Alec,” he said softly, shaking his head, “I assure you; I am only going there to—”

“I meant,” Alec interrupted, stepping forward and kissing him quickly with a roll of his eyes, “that if I came to visit, I could… stay over? No one’d… no one would mind?”

“It is… my accommodation to do with as I please,” Magnus replied, still feeling a little out of his depth at Alec’s reaction, and having no idea what to make of it, “but I—”

“You said. If you need to come back in an emergency, you can do that, right?”

“Right,”

“So,” Alec said, pulling him closer to him, “if I wanted to come with, and I needed to get back here for anything, you could portal me back. Right?”

“But—”

“Magnus,” Alec smiled, stepping closer still, waiting for him to answer.

“Right,” Magnus replied, finding himself nodding, and really not too sure what was happening.

“So it’s not like I can’t get back if I need to, if something happens,” Alec continued, reaching out and snagging their fingers together, “and I’m not even saying I’ll… I don’t know, come for the whole thing—it’d be pretty pointless considering you’d be in your meetings and stuff, but… I can’t… I can’t go without seeing you for… I don’t know how long. You don’t know how long,”

“But—”

“Unless you don’t want me there,” Alec amended, a tiny flicker of doubt hitting his eyes.

“No,” Magnus said immediately, leaning in to kiss him, “no, I’d love you to be there when you can. It’s just… I just… I never imagined that you would even consider it,”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Alec asked, seeming genuinely confused by Magnus’ answer.

“You’re… Head of the Institute. You’re… this is your life, your work,”

“True,” Alec agreed, “but that doesn’t mean it’s got to be all my life; you taught me that. And you’re a big part of that life as well. And I don’t… I know this probably isn’t gonna be as straightforward as I’m imagining it to be, but… we’ll figure it out,”

“Alec—”

“It’s no different from me coming home when I finish here every night,” Alec reasoned, and if that simple logic didn’t ignite the oddest feeling in Magnus’ gut for not having considered the possibility himself.

“You would… portal to me?” he asked anyway, needing the confirmation despite the certainty on Alec’s face.

“If you’ll have me, then yes, of course,”

“If I’ll have you,” Magnus mumbled out in incredulity, then crowded up against him, kissing him hard enough to chase away any sense of doubt.

“So,” Alec said when he pulled back a little later, kiss bruised and sparkling eyes, his lips curved up into a smile, “how are we gonna do this?”

* * *

 

 


	2. Someone to come home to

Straightforward wasn’t what their situation was, Magnus thought to himself as he zoned out of the conversation of droning voices discussing conduct in mundane public spaces. But at least he could look forward to his day finishing, or at least some part of it spent with much preferable company than that he was currently experiencing. A week into the council meetings and true to his word, as often as he was able, Alec would send him a message to let him know that he would be free to join him before the day was over. The time zone issues meant that could at times be problematic, but so far, they had managed to work it out.

In all of the time Magnus had been attending these warlock gatherings, this was the first one he had done so when he was not truly alone. So many of the other, older warlocks had long-established connections with each other, that meant from the moment they stepped through into the official gathering circle, they gravitated towards one another, leaving Magnus and perhaps one or two others on the fringes to fend for themselves.  

And he had not yet been lucky enough to have his own summonings to these meetings coincide with Catarina’s, or Ragnor’s. He’d asked once, long ago, why the meetings did not insist on every warlock attending at once to get things over with quicker, why their names were called at random instead of grouping together those with similar interests, and he had been told that was just the way of things as though he was an impatient, petulant child. It was a way to keep the warlock world both in order and still functioning in case something was to happen whilst so many of them were in council, he got that, but whatever the reason, it was rare for Magnus to feel out of his depth and untethered like he did at these things. It wasn’t something he had any intention of getting used to feeling.

That first day Alec had stepped through the portal with his eyes already seeking Magnus out in the room, Magnus had felt himself whole again. He had only been at the council two days by then, but was already frantic to leave, desperate to get back to his version of normal, and of course to his life with Alec. But Alec had crossed the room, wrapped him up in his arms and drained away all of the frustration Magnus had been feeling just by being there with him. Their foreheads had pressed together for a while as they’d drank each other in, and it was only then that Magnus had leaned up to be kissed, losing himself in the feel of Alec pressed against him and holding on tight.

“Warlock Bane, what do you have to add?”

His attention jarred back in to the council room, and Magnus had a couple of seconds of reestablishing his awareness of the thick cut circular table he was sat at, plus numerous sets of eyes staring him down, then offered up a quick smile before giving an answer he hoped was vague enough not to show he hadn’t been listening, yet said enough to pretend he was talking with authority.

“That is a good point,” the booming, authoritative voice mused, and Magnus sagged a little in relief, listening to the murmurs of agreeing voices around him, and chiding himself for not concentrating. He pushed aside the distraction that was Alec, and tried to get involved in the conversation.

It was strange, Magnus mused, unaware that he’d already drifted off again, that when he was back in Brooklyn and Alec was at least within what felt like touching distance, he could convince himself to concentrate on whatever clients or duties he had to perform, safe in the knowledge that he would soon be with Alec again, no matter how far away he felt at the time. But there, so very far from home, despite the simplicity of portaling him in, Alec felt so much more distant, and there was a physical ache to the way that Magnus missed him, that meant trying not to think about Alec was a battle he had no hope of winning.

A shift to his side had Magnus focusing his attention yet again, his eyes drawn to the formal flowing robes that he had never once talked himself into wearing to these proceedings. But he listened in harder, even made a few mental notes, and tried not to let thoughts of Alec creep back to take over his mind.

* * *

“You are very distracting, Alexander,” Magnus announced, curling up in a sated heap against his chest and feeling it rise with a huff of amusement.

“You regretting letting me come along?” Alec laughed, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun streaming into their room, and smiling down at him. 

“No,” Magnus assured him immediately with a kiss against his sternum, sighing out in contentment as Alec wrapped him up a little more securely in his arms, “but you are so rarely far from my thoughts, that at times it is difficult to concentrate on what anyone is saying here. I have almost been caught out several times now,”

“How’d you think I feel trying to get through stuff at the Institute?” Alec retorted, and Magnus shifted just enough to drop his chin down on him to look up. Alec nodded, seeming to have been waiting for him to settle. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve… when you’ve been in my head, or someone’s just said your name, or something that makes me think of you, and I’ve got to act all serious when all I’m thinking, is that I can’t wait to get you alone,”

“Do you think about that often?” Magnus smiled, a warmth pooling in his chest, and unable to resist shuffling up the bed a little to claim himself a kiss.  

“What do you want me to say?” Alec shrugged, holding him in place when he tried to move back. “You’re just as distracting. I think about you all the time as well. Why’d you think I wanted to be here, huh?”

“Well, when you put it like that—”

“I didn’t wanna be alone,” Alec said, effortlessly rolling them so he could bracket Magnus’ face between his arms against the bed, “and I didn’t want you to be alone. Not if I could do something about it,” and what was Magnus supposed to say to that? His only answer was to kiss him, loop his arms around his back and luxuriate in the weight of Alec against him.

In his wildest, wandering imaginations, Magnus had never been able to conjure this, being loved so unconditionally, that he would be followed to the other side of the world just so he wouldn’t have to be by himself. And for all the doubts he’d had about he and Alec in the beginning despite how much he'd wanted them to happen, the assumption that Alec’s lack of experience would mean he would forever be teaching him, it felt like he was the one doing so much of the learning in their relationship. Learning to let himself be loved, and cared about, without fearing a fallout from it, might have been one of his hardest lessons of all.

But when Alec smiled at him the way he was doing, bending to nuzzle against his cheek and settle back down by his side, all Magnus could do was relish in it. Accept everything that Alec was offering, and hope that he could give back as much to Alec as Alec gave to him. 

* * *

Three more weeks into the warlock council, and Magnus had settled down enough to listen in to at least half of the conversations going on around him. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested, or that he didn’t think the council was important, but everything felt cumbersome, and unnecessarily slow. A point of discussion could be raised with the lingering aftertaste of his morning coffee, and wouldn’t see any progress until he drained the dregs of his tea in the late afternoon. And if they’d gotten anywhere near to resolving whatever issue it was before the sun went down, then Magnus would count it as a successful day.

Perhaps, Magnus allowed, stirring his spoon in a second cup of tea more for something to do than for the need for refreshment, he was being too harsh. Just because he had learned the most efficient ways of doing everything, and was more than happy to embrace the mundane technology that so often made the simplest tasks of his work easier, did not mean that some of those older warlocks around him would be willing to do the same. Magnus liked to keep himself young-hearted, evolving with cultures and fitting in the best he could wherever he was, but so many of his contemporaries felt so very otherwordly from those outside their own existence, that the very idea of suggesting something as simple as, perhaps, a computerized record keeping system, would be beyond their wildest thoughts. 

Magnus thought then of the tablet forever in Alec’s hand when in his office in the Institute, and found himself having to rein in his thoughts all over again.

Of those three weeks, Alec had managed to visit him on all but three days. And on the nights following those days, it had been impossible for Magnus to relax, and having done very little to attempt to socialize with the other warlocks because Alec was there with him, Magnus was greeted with curious gazes and clipped tones on those rare occasions when he’d attempted to join in with optional activities by himself.

Alec had called him out on it, insisted on spending at least parts of a few of their time together in the company of the other warlocks when it was possible, and if Magnus had been surprised that he would even suggest it, the lengths Alec went to in an attempt to make conversation were nothing short of startling. At first the warlocks had been distrustful, even dismissive of Alec, and when he was out of earshot, disdainful about their relationship. But Alec had persevered, and that strength and confidence Magnus had quietly observed and admired during joint meetings at the Institute between the Clave and the Downworlders had gone a long way to changing many an opinion of him.

In fact, Magnus smiled to himself, the warlocks that had bothered to answer his questions when Alec had shown interest in what they were doing had grudgingly admitted to Magnus that he was right, Alec was different, nothing like any of the Shadowhunters they’d had to deal with themselves in the past. It made Magnus beyond proud, and of course more than a little bit smug, and so help him if he wouldn’t thrive in the aftermath of Alec’s glow.

A cleared throat beside him reminded Magnus that it was his turn to talk, and at this point he could much better focus attention since it was a subject very close to his own heart—alliances, that insured both the peace of his people, and the ease of friction that so often flared up between the component parts.  

Sitting more comfortably in his chair, Magnus took a sip of his tea to collect his thoughts, then cleared his throat, and began to talk.

* * *

Another month in, and Magnus was beyond ready to be home. Perhaps it was because he usually surrounded himself with people that he found interesting, or at least entertaining, but he was sure this council meeting was so much duller than any of the others he’d had to endure. Or maybe it was because of Alec, because Alec made just about everything in his world that much better, and though he’d initially fought with himself for just how hard he was falling, he’d given into it long ago, embraced it and trusted in loving Alec like he hadn’t allowed himself to do before.

But Alec, Alec was on a mission, and this past week, these past five days, had been the longest they had been away from each other in what had to be months. Magnus could barely settle, never mind sleep, and the few snatches of conversation they’d had via fire message had brought no kind of relief at all; if anything, it had made the entire situation worse, because it reminded him of just how much he was missing Alec.

Tonight though, Magnus thought to himself as he trooped in with the others back into the council hall following a recess, tonight Alec hoped he’d be able to come through. He’d looked exhausted when they’d spoken yesterday, and Magnus’ fingers had twitched with the urge to get his hands on him, not just because he was missing him so badly, but also to know that he was safe, and all his injuries fixable. Despite Alec being more than capable of using his runes to do that himself.

The meeting was, as Magnus had already known it would be, tedious beyond all measure. He’d taken to sitting beside an ancient mound of a warlock, not because he found his conversation interesting in the intermissions between discussions, but because he was such a fidget it was guaranteed to pull Magnus’ attention back if he’d gotten off track. An elbow to his gut did just that to Magnus then, ripping his concentration from recalling every scar that marred Alec’s skin and all the ways he intended on checking for new ones, and back into the room. Just in time too, apparently, since they were being called on to vote. Luckily, he’d been tuned in just enough to understand the principles of what they were voting for, and quickly cast his own with a flourish of his fingers, even his magic crackling with the anticipation of just how much he was missing Alec.

There was a feeling of optimism in the air, with whisperings of proceedings perhaps lasting no more than another couple of weeks. And when that was done, Magnus had every intention of doing all he could to persuade Alec to take a break, a real one, away from the Institute, Brooklyn, everything, just the two of them, to be really alone. Alec’s easy approach to this council meeting had left him optimistic, and brave enough to ask.

But then the meeting was over, and there was little left to do but wait for Alec, and one hour soon became two, and two became three, and Magnus watched with increasing apprehension as the light bled away from the sky. There was no word, no warning that Alec wouldn’t now be coming, no indication that he was okay, or if he was just simply delayed. Frustrated, Magnus paced, rearranged the furniture several times just for something to do with his time, then practiced a little of the magic they had been discussing earlier in the morning, not surprised at all to see it stuttering out.

He needed Alec, and maybe that should have been a little terrifying, to be so reliant on another person that he couldn’t perform his own simple tasks when he wasn’t around. But it wasn’t terrifying, it was invigorating, Magnus decided, though he'd prefer not to have a residual weight of fear pressing on his stomach the later the evening got.  

Finally, as his eyes began to close under the weight of his own tiredness, a fire message flared its way through to rouse him instantly awake, and Magnus was on his feet in seconds to read it, creating a portal and all but catching Alec as he stumbled through into the room.

“Where have you been?” Magnus asked in a soft demand, sagging in relief at the press of Alec against him, and allowing himself to lean back as Alec wrapped his arms around his waist.

“We got side-stepped by it,” Alec mumbled into his shoulder, following it up with a press of a kiss and nuzzling into his neck, breathing hard there in sheer relief.

“By?” Magnus pushed for further information, since Alec’s messages had been vague, and not given nearly enough detail to put his mind at rest.

“Demon,” Alec sighed, kissing it into his jawline, and then nothing else mattered at all, because his lips found Magnus’, his hands snuck beneath his shirt, and there was nothing else in the world but Alec.

“Let’s get you clean,” Magnus suggested with a soft kiss to the shell of his ear when he pulled away, smiling at Alec’s weary nod of agreement and tangling their fingers together to tug him along to the bathroom. As Magnus undressed him, Alec told him about their mission, how things had been going well to start with but then out of nowhere all hell seemed to have broken loose. There was a pause as Alec’s shirt stuck to a wound he hadn’t quite got around to healing properly on his shoulder, but Magnus fixed that with a flick of his fingers and then removed the shirt in the same way.

“Is everyone okay?” Magnus asked, and for some reason that earned him a beaming smile from Alec, who pushed his hands away from where they’d been trying to work at his belt buckle, and pulling him in for a longer kiss, sighing his way into it and smiling as he stepped back.

“Everyone’s okay,” Alec assured him, pressing a kiss to his cheek and wrapping him up in his arms for a moment again before stepping back and allowing Magnus to get back to his task.

Under the stream of the shower, Magnus washed away all traces of Alec’s battles, mumbled soothing words into the lingering bruises over his skin, and vowed to do the same once Alec was on his back. And once on the bed Alec sank into the sheets in such relief, that Magnus was convinced he couldn’t have slept at all in the days he hadn’t seen him. With the gentlest of touches he checked him over once again, smiling as Alec sighed for every time his lips brushed over his skin.

“Come up here,” Alec commanded, though it was soft, and sleepy, and never something Magnus would deny him. Magnus pressed a kiss into his stomach, trailing more up over his chest and bracing himself over him, then ducked down to kiss along his jaw, and tucked himself into Alec’s neck.

“I missed you,” he mumbled there, his eyes closing with his own relief as Alec folded his arms around him.

“I missed you too. I had no intention of being away that long,”

“I know,” Magnus assured him, nuzzling beneath his ear and pressing in closer still.

“How’s it going here?” Alec asked, though the words trailed away into a long-overdue yawn, and Magnus shook his head to stall his answer, prepared to delay any of the things he’d been wanting to do to Alec until he looked less like he might pass out on him.

“Tomorrow—”

“Magnus—”

“Tomorrow,” Magnus whispered, kissing it into his ear, “we’ll talk tomorrow. For now, you should sleep,” and the shift of Alec beneath him told him he was debating against that reasoning, but another yawn punched its way out of his mouth, and Magnus smiled as he felt Alec nodding in defeat.  

They rearranged themselves side by side, with Alec opting to fold Magnus up in his arms and tuck him into his chest, smoothing greedy hands over the expanse of Magnus’ back and humming to himself in approval, then pressing a sleepy kiss into the crown of his head.

“I love you,” he mumbled there, already sounding half way to sleep. Magnus had a few seconds of hearing his breathing even out, just enough time to mumble an _I love you_ back, then sank into Alec’s warmth, following him to sleep just minutes later.

* * *

 

 


	3. Away from everything

“Are you really sure I need all this cream?”

Magnus hid his smile behind Alec’s shoulder, though gave another swirl of his thumb there to make sure the last of the sun cream was completely rubbed in to his skin.

“Of course,” he assured him, “all that time you spend in that darkened tomb that is your office; what else are you going to do but burn in natural sunlight?”

“I like my office,” Alec retorted, but it was a half-distracted response for the way Magnus slid down beside him and ducked in for a brief kiss.

“I do too,” Magnus smiled, kissing him again, his mind wandering to some very memorable moments he and Alec had shared in that office, and judging from the roll of his eyes and slight smile in answer, Alec’s mind had gone to the same place as well. “I just think, sometimes you could be mistaken for a Nightwalker, for the paleness of your skin. Even our dear Simon—”

“Can we not talk about Simon, or any of that, while we’re here?” Alec immediately interrupted with a slight whine to his voice, cutting him off with a further kiss and a squeeze around his bare thigh. Magnus tangled his fingers there, let his eyes drift over the view that was Alec mirroring himself in only his swim trunks, and smiled in agreement.

“As you wish,”

“Thought the whole point of this _vacation_ ,” Alec continued, waving his hand vaguely in front of him and emphasizing the word vacation as though he thought it a foreign concept, “was to get away from everything we knew for a while,”

“It’s true,” Magnus agreed, shifting just enough to stretch out, slide his fingers and toes through the sand, and tilt his head up towards the afternoon sun.

The warlock meeting, short by any reckoning at about two and a half months, was now more than a month ago, with them having returned to Brooklyn and Magnus being on a high of freedom, only to immediately walk into some Clave kind of catastrophe that kept them apart for more days than the entire warlock meeting had done.  

And as had become something of a normal occurrence for Magnus of late, when Alec had returned, his tentative asking if they could take a few days away together, after rehearsing a dozen ways of putting the suggestion to Alec and planning arguments to all his retorts, was met with easy agreement, and the only thing resembling any kind of resistance was to _give him a few days_ to organize things in his absence.  

Alec hadn’t even made the token, pointless reminder for Magnus to portal him back to the Institute should any problem come up, and if that wasn’t progress, practically out of character for the Alec he’d first met, then Magnus didn’t know what was. But he wasn’t going to complain about it, in fact he intended to bask in every moment of it, even have some secret sort of pride that it was his influence, and presence in Alec’s life, that had allowed him to become so much more laid back.

Seeming to read his mind, Alec turned just enough to cup Magnus’ face and drag him closer for a kiss, humming his way into it and smiling against his lips when Magnus slid a wide-spread hand up the length of his torso.

“And here was me thinking you’d be self—conscious being out here like this,” Magnus teased, ducking in to continue kissing him when Alec went to pull away, and emphasizing his words with a swirl of his thumb over his pec.

“Magnus, we’re in the middle of nowhere. There’s like, literally no one but us on this beach,” Alec pointed out, happy to accept Magnus’ kiss, and slotting his fingers through his hair to keep him in place, “and besides. Why’d anyone be wasting their time looking at me, when you’re sat here looking like that?”

“Like what?” Magnus asked, feigning innocence, though unable to ignore the heat in Alec’s eyes as they lingered over him.

“Like that,” Alec repeated, lower, and more deliberate, before he gathered Magnus closer still and flipped them, pinning him back against their blanket spread out on the sand.

“Well,” Magnus said, unable to keep the glee from his voice as he smoothed his hands over Alec’s back, smiling as he settled between his legs, “there is little I can do about my appearance,”

“You don’t need to do anything about your appearance,” Alec countered, then ducked to press a trail of kisses into his neck, “you’re perfect as you are,”

* * *

There was something quite enchanting about seeing Alec truly at rest, Magnus thought, as they strolled hand in hand back from the tiny restaurant they’d come to for dinner. It was a rare sight that Magnus thought only he might have had the privilege of seeing, and only then in the confines of the loft, or when they portaled away somewhere for a date.

The first time Alec had slid his fingers through Magnus’ to hold when they’d been out together, Magnus had been convinced he could feel the apprehension crackling in his fingertips. He didn’t know where that apprehension came from, be it the residual fear of holding a man’s hand in public, or even that Magnus might not want to touch him like that, but Magnus had quickly squeezed back in reassurance, rewarding him with a wide smile that told him just how okay it was.

Now, it was second nature, and in fact there had been several near misses when they’d been together in a professional situation and Magnus had unthinkingly reached out to take his hand. A couple of those times Alec had beamed at him, discreetly stroked his fingertips over his palm before withdrawing his hand, and a couple more times he’d blushed, uncharacteristically stuttering over his words. But the smile that accompanied that blush had never been nothing but pleased, and there were never many minutes to wait for Magnus to feel Alec reaching out in some way to touch him back.

“I think I could get used to vacations,” Alec announced, his eyes turning in curiosity to watch a small group of people gathered around what looked like a fire pit on a stretch of beach a couple of miles from where they were staying.

“You could?” Magnus asked, forgetting to keep the surprise from his voice, or the hope, apparently, for the way Alec turned to smile at him.

“Yeah,” Alec agreed, leaning in to kiss him as though there was nothing else he needed to be doing, and temporarily bringing them to a stop by turning Magnus into him, pulling him flush against his chest.

“So, were I to suggest that we make this a regular thing. Not,” Magnus amended, already anticipating Alec’s objection, “perhaps for so long; I know we can’t just keep disappearing for days on end when we feel like it,”

“But we could maybe take a weekend every now and then,” Alec finished for him, raising an eyebrow and fighting a smile that said he knew Magnus would be surprised by his response.

“Of course,” Magnus stuttered out, his eyebrows raising a little, and turning them back to walk, aware of Alec’s eyes on him the entire time.

“What is it?”

The tone of Alec’s voice was that slightly amused one he used, Magnus thought, only for him, when he’d seen through whatever charade he was playing, and was calling him out on it. Somewhere in the back of his head a voice reminded Magnus that he didn’t need to pretend about anything with Alec, but some habits were harder to let go of than others. He squeezed Alec’s hand anyway, but didn’t look around.

“It’s just… back, so long ago now, I could barely persuade you to do anything that would keep you away from the Institute for more than what felt like a few moments at a time,”

“I think you had some pretty convincing arguments to get me to stay over all the time,” Alec countered, and Magnus couldn’t resist looking then, to take in the smug, teasing smile Alec was giving him. It wasn’t untrue either; Magnus was already recounting several of his best persuasive tactics that hadn’t failed to convince Alec to stay in his bed.

“Agreed,” Magnus replied, laughing a little, “but you have to admit. Aside from that, sometimes it was… you were less than… enthusiastic,”

“I learned my lesson,” Alec told him, soft in tone but firm in meaning, and Magnus was sure he could see the pain cross his face even in the pale light of the moon overhead. There had been a few times when they hadn’t been totally honest with each other, when they’d stumbled over words instead of blurting them out, and ended up pushing one another away.  All those times had been temporary, but the heartbreak that they had led to had taught them both a valuable lesson, and apparently Alec was keen to never forget it.

“Alec—”

“I’m serious,” Alec insisted, dropping his hand and instead throwing his arm around Magnus’ shoulders, pulling him close and pressing a kiss into his cheek, “I never wanna… I don’t wanna be without you again. Sometimes I… sometimes I forget, or I have forgotten, that there’s more to life than just… what we do. Our work,”

Magnus smoothed a hand across his back and settled it around Alec’s waist, squeezing there. “I am… relieved to hear you say that, Alexander,”

“In case you hadn’t noticed? You’re important to me. This, us, is important,” Alec told him, and affection bloomed warm in Magnus’ chest, allowing him to sag against Alec and know he’d be there to hold him up.

“I noticed,” Magnus replied, “I… you’re important to me, too,”

“Well, good,”  

Magnus looked again to catch the smirk on Alec’s face and closed his eyes for a moment, telling himself repeatedly just how lucky he was.

* * *

 

 


	4. Epilogue: At the loft

“What’s that?”

The glee in Jace’s voice followed by a scuffling sound called Magnus’ attention from returning a book to its place on the shelf, and he turned just in time to see Alec and Jace tussling then crash into a heap in front of the couch. He kept watching as Alec fought to snatch his phone back from Jace’s grip, shoving hard against his chest and rolling his eyes, but then turning the screen to Jace anyway for him to look.

Jace’s smile transformed his face into something triumphant, and the only word he managed to get out before Alec shoved against his arm again was a playful, _cute_.

“Didn’t you have somewhere to be?” Alec asked, an arch to his voice as he raised himself back to the couch and pulled Jace up beside him, smiling the entire time.

“We do,” Clary agreed, raising smoothly from her own seat, and as Magnus came to stand beside her, he caught her own amused smile for the two of them. “Thanks, Magnus; I’m sure this’ll be useful,”

“Anytime, Biscuit,” Magness replied, turning and nodding slightly at her, though unable to keep his eyes away from Alec very long.

Goodbyes were then exchanged, with Jace sending him a smirk of a grin before grabbing Alec into a quick hug that ended with a slap on the back that resounded a little too hard for Magnus’ liking, but Alec just laughed off and shoved at him yet again, an affectionate smile telling him there was no harm done. Clary’s hugs for them were softer, and as Magnus watched Jace and Clary leave, he couldn’t help but be secretly proud over how far she had come—how they had all come, in fact.

“What was that about?” Magnus asked once he'd closed the door behind them, turning back to Alec and pleased to have him to himself again.

“What?”

“You, and Jace, rolling around the carpet like infants,”

Alec nodded, turning to snatch up his phone from the couch and holding it out for Magnus to look. The screen was off, so he reached out to open it, and couldn’t hold back the small pleased huff that escaped for seeing a picture of the two of them there as Alec’s screensaver.

“Jace thinks we’re cute,” Magnus replied, his words coming out amused, and on receiving Alec’s wide grin was helpless but to step closer, claim himself a lingering kiss.

“So,” Alec said a little later, looping his arms around Magnus’ waist and pulling him in, “I don’t need to be anywhere till tomorrow now. What are we gonna do?”

“Anything you want, Alexander,” Magnus promised, leaning against him, his phone still clutched tight in his hand.

“Okay,” Alec agreed, “I’ll just deal with these,” and Magnus stood in silence as Alec pulled back, gestured to then picked up the tray of teacups that they had all just drained, and moved towards the kitchen.  

Despite his magic, the ease with which he could perform the simplest of tasks for him, Alec seemed to take a kind of pleasure in moving around the loft doing things by hand. He always took the gentlest of care of any of Magnus’ tea services, holding them so delicately it was as though he feared they might break from a simple touch. And there had been numerous occasions when Magnus had returned from a client or some other kind of business to find Alec cleaning unnecessarily, a scowl furrowing his brow. Magnus knew on those days that things had been difficult for Alec, and the best thing he could do was to wrap himself around him until he felt the tension drop from his shoulders, then move away again until Alec was ready to talk.

Magnus looked down at Alec’s phone again then, smiling once more as a picture of the two of them filled the screen. He wondered for a moment if Alec would like that he did the same on his own phone, then decided on just the picture, and did it anyway.

Listening as Alec rinsed the cups out in the kitchen, Magnus’s eyes fell to a couple of discarded bracelets on the table next to where Alec had just been sitting, and he smiled in recognition, reaching to pick them up for a second then deciding to leave them in place. They were his bracelets, but Alec had taken to wearing them more than he had, and if Alec wanted to carry a little part of him with him when they couldn’t be together, Magnus was more than happy for him to do so.  

The loft was full of little traces of Alec; in fact, it had been so long since Magnus had thought of the apartment as only his own, that he wondered then if they had unconsciously decided that Alec had already moved in. He liked that idea a lot, imagined the emptiness of Alec’s room at the Institute, and shrugged away the thought, filled it with better ones of attempting to convince Alec help him choose colors and furnishings the next time he redecorated.

In short, Alec had filled in all the pockets and voids of Magnus’ existence. There wasn’t an aspect of his world that Alec’s presence hadn’t trickled in to, and if at times that meant a distraction, all the positives of having his influence more than made up for the occasional knowing smirks or repeating of a client’s words because he’d zoned out on what they had been telling him. And for all the certainty he now felt in his life for having Alec in it, Alec really did continue to surprise him. Magnus couldn’t wait to see what was in store for them next.

“You ready?”

Alec appeared beside him then, a gentle squeeze of his hand around his forearm, and bringing Magnus’ focus back to the present.

“Of course,” he replied, reaching up to cup his face for a moment then leaning in to steal a kiss.  

“You know,” Alec said, wrapping a wide hand around Magnus’ hip and turning him, “we’ve got all day. We’ve got all night too; we don’t have to go anywhere, if we don’t want to,”

Magnus leaned up against him, pressed together at every point as he tilted his head back to smile up at him. “What did you have in mind?”

Alec’s smile was beautiful, curving a lick of heat up the length of his spine, and as Magnus closed his eyes to that feeling of warmth wrapping around him, he once again repeated to himself just how much brighter his world was for having Alec in it.

“Bed?” Alec replied, more statement than question, slotting their hands together and already tugging him towards the bedroom.

“Are you tired, Alexander?” Magnus teased, his stomach giving an excited drop that spoke of anything but fatigue.

“Nope,” Alec told him, squeezing his fingers and turning another smile on him that was full of intent.

 Magnus could only respond with a small, pleased hum, and ducked under Alec’s arm as he held the bedroom door open for him.


End file.
